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Hamas: from “Terrorist” Organization to Governing Party the Implications of Hamas’S 2006 Electoral Victory

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Hamas: from “Terrorist” Organization to Governing Party the Implications of Hamas’S 2006 Electoral Victory Syracuse University SURFACE Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Projects Projects Spring 4-1-2007 Hamas: From “Terrorist” Organization to Governing Party The Implications of Hamas’s 2006 Electoral Victory Heather Freitag Follow this and additional works at: https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone Part of the Other International and Area Studies Commons Recommended Citation Freitag, Heather, "Hamas: From “Terrorist” Organization to Governing Party The Implications of Hamas’s 2006 Electoral Victory" (2007). Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Projects. 591. https://surface.syr.edu/honors_capstone/591 This Honors Capstone Project is brought to you for free and open access by the Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Projects at SURFACE. It has been accepted for inclusion in Syracuse University Honors Program Capstone Projects by an authorized administrator of SURFACE. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1 Introduction For forty years now, conflict and tensions in the occupied territories of Palestine have made for a lifestyle filled with hardships and uncertainty for the Palestinian people. Despite facing the daily reality and humiliation of occupation, they continue to struggle and to hope that the world will recognize the rights of the Palestinians to have their own state and to live in peace, free from occupation. Unfortunately, despite the tremendous perseverance and fortitude demonstrated by the Palestinians, no real progress has been made in years of conflict, and numerous attempts at peace agreements and negotiations have failed. The failings and corruption of the government dominated by Fatah have become notorious and have plagued the progress of Palestinians for decades. As Fatah became increasingly ineffective, an alternative movement, Hamas, became stronger, providing social welfare to the people and proving themselves to be legitimate in their concern for the Palestinians. With the death of Fatah’s leader, Yasser Arafat, in 2004, his successor, Mahmud Abbas, called for elections to create more legitimacy within the Palestinian government. Despite being an opposition movement, Hamas decided to participate in the elections with an outcome that shocked the world – they won. On January 25, 2006, the Palestinians voted Hamas into power. While Hamas had hoped to do well, most within the group never believed they would actually take control of the government. Some members of the international community, namely Western countries, did not believe it either, and promptly responded with economic boycotts of the “terrorist”-led government. At the same 2 time, Fatah refused to join Hamas in a coalition government, foreshadowing what would manifest into incredible tensions, leading to fears about civil war. Amidst international discontent and domestic tension, Hamas took over the government and tried to focus on domestic issues, such as building institutions and restoring security and order. However, the economic boycott violently shoved Hamas into dealing with the international discontent as well as domestic impoverishment that was being exacerbated by the lack of funding. Even in the US, presidents who have tried to pursue “guns and butter” have failed. Thus, it is easy to see how the cards were quickly being stacked against Hamas. Currently, more than a year after Hamas was elected, they still have refused to give into the demands of the West, which keeps the economic boycott in place. However, Hamas leaders have made statements that are promising and demonstrate a willingness to compromise. They have also essentially agreed to the conditions put forth by the boycotting nations, in variation. Furthermore, Hamas has just recently signed an agreement to create a unity government with Fatah. With multiple challenges both at home and abroad staring Hamas in the face, they have showed unity and strength. The rhetoric being used by leaders is much different than from years past, and it seems quite obvious that Hamas has been making changes. However, this may not be good enough for the West. Consequently, it is difficult to know for sure how effective the Hamas leadership could be because of the remarkable constraints the government is facing due to the economic boycott. Nevertheless, there is evidence that leads one to believe that Hamas could have a positive impact on the lives of Palestinians, 3 given a fair chance to govern their people. Additionally, if the United States and Israel could get past labels of terrorist and would negotiate fairly with Hamas, the results could be monumental. This thesis will discuss the impact of the 2006 elections for Palestinians specifically, and the Israel-Palestine conflict more broadly. However, before considering the ramifications of the elections, a discussion of Hamas’s origins, beliefs, and support base will be presented in order to understand who Hamas is, why the movement has come to power, and what they could be capable of achieving. After analyzing this background information, in conjunction with what has happened thus far as a result of the elections, I will discuss how Hamas is not the real barrier to peace. Furthermore, I propose that the election of Hamas, despite its being a terrorist group, could be a positive development given the right international support. Finally, I will suggest changes in policy that should be made by all parties involved. The Palestinian Situation The Land of Palestine: A Brief Historical Overview The historical land that was Palestine consists of present-day Israel, the West Bank, Gaza, parts of Jordan and southern Lebanon. After WWI and the dissolution of the Ottoman Empire, Britain took control of Palestine in what is known as the British Mandate. Through various agreements and declarations, the British government respected the desire of the Jewish people to create their own nation in Palestine. As more and more Jewish settlers moved into the region, the 4 Arab population started to become more apprehensive. Once Britain gave up its mandate in 1948, the Jewish population immediately declared the state of Israel. Armed conflict broke out and other Arab nations intervened, resulting in Egypt’s control of Gaza and Jordan’s control of the West Bank. Then, in 1967 tensions arose again, this time regarding diverting water supplies. Eventually, another war started in June, resulting in a devastating defeat for Egypt, Syria, and Jordan. Since then, the West Bank and Gaza have been occupied by Israel ( The Middle East 2005 ). Living Under Occupation As will be explored in a future section of the paper, the social programs that Hamas operates have helped them garner support for the movement because of the extreme poverty in the occupied territories. Therefore, it is worthwhile to examine the living conditions in the occupied territories to understand how the situation shapes the views and actions of the Palestinians. Humanitarian concerns have been an issue almost as long as the conflict between Israel and Palestine has existed; however, since the election of Hamas, the problem has become markedly worse. The UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced in a report that humanitarian conditions have witnessed a “sharp deterioration” since the elections because of Israel’s security measures ( Humanitarian…2006 ). The report elaborates on and discusses the adverse affects of the checkpoints and barrier. Among other concerns, the report cites denying people access to their land, seizing land as “State Land” after 5 it is not farmed or occupied for three years, granting less travel permits, and closing more access gates ( Humanitarian…2006 ). Even without the economic boycott, which obviously has exacerbated all of the other economic problems facing the Palestinians, the situation in the territories has been one of the most dismal in the world due to measures such as the separation barrier and endless checkpoints. The checkpoints and travel restrictions have been part of Israel’s defense plan since the start of the 2000 intifada ; however, both have become stricter and more prevalent in recent years. Currently, 542 obstacles have effectively carved the West Bank into three regions (Myre 2006). Travel between these regions has become extremely limited and time-consuming. Beyond these 542 official checkpoints and barriers, hundreds of other obstacles such as earth mounds, concrete blocks, and trenches cut off roads and cause obstructions that add to travel time and woes (Myre 2006). Furthermore, the diversions and obstacles were strategically placed and have basically created a system of separate Palestinian roads and Israeli roads ( Humanitarian…2006 ). At the checkpoints, Palestinians wait outside of checkpoints for hours to pass through turnstiles, metal detectors and interrogation from Israeli soldiers, in hopes of being allowed to continue towards their destination. Almost all of the people who are denied passage are dismissed for arbitrary reasons. Some days all men under a specific age are turned away, other days students are targeted, and on occasion nobody is let through. Even Israeli soldiers manning the checkpoints find the situation hard to cope with. Staff Sgt. Sergey Zamensky, who worked at 6 the checkpoints, discusses the emotional pains that the soldiers endure when they must turn away students who will miss their finals, grandmothers trying to visit their grandchildren, and even a young bride who would miss her own wedding (Moore 2004). "Every
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